16 Campaigns that Reveal the REAL Cost of Food

Industrial agriculture is externalizing the environmental and health costs associated with food production. Worldwide, 75 billion tons of soil is lost every year, costing approximately US$400 billion per year, or about US$70 per person, per year, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). And the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that approximately 30 percent of the global population is overweight or obese, with the global economic impact amounting to roughly US$2 trillion annually, or 2.8 percent of global GDP.

These environmental and health costs are not reflected in market prices for food, but rather, absorbed by people who suffer from diet-related diseases and citizens who pay for environmental cleanup.

In order to create sustainable food systems, producers, eaters, businesses, governments, and the funding and donor communities must understand how to quantify and understand the real costs of food. True Cost Accounting (TCA) is a method of better aligning externalized costs of production with end-product values.

Many organizations are working to develop better models for true cost accounting. But it’s not only research organizations and economic analysts that are working to account for the externalized social and environmental costs of food production. Many campaigns and grassroots organizations are calling on food and agriculture corporations to fight injustice and environmental degradation around the world. These activists are taking to the streets (and social media) to make changes that account for the true costs of cheap food.

YOU can get involved by taking action to support these important campaigns. Follow these organizations on social media to stay informed on TCA:

According to research by Anti-Slavery International, an organization that works at local, national, and international levels to combat modern forms of slavery, child trafficking continues on cocoa farms in Cote D’Ivore, which produces approximately 40 percent of the world’s cocoa, a key ingredient in products that contain chocolate. Cargill, ADM, and Barry Callebaut, cocoa buyers that trade in large quantities, are the focus of the campaign by Anti-Slavery International to stop child trafficking, a practice that depresses labor costs and lowers the price of cocoa on the world market. Take action HERE to stand with Anti-Slavery International and end child slavery in Cote D’Ivoire and the global cocoa industry.

The Center for a Livable Future at the John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health works to analyze the relationship between food production, the environment, and public health. Based on its research of sub-therapeutic antibiotics used in animal production, the center advocates for preserving important antibiotics for medical treatment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), excess healthcare costs in the U.S. from antibiotic resistance are estimated at US$20 billion annually. Sign the petition HERE to phase out antibiotics from agriculture, reducing the externalized public health costs of industrial animal production.

Conservation International is working to protect the Amazon rainforest as deforestation, climate change, and increasing global energy demand place enormous pressure on ecologically sensitive areas. According to Pavan Sukhdev of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), the true costs of cattle ranching in South America are actually 18 times higher than revealed by market prices. Protect an acre of rainforestthrough Conservation International and pledge to protect the planet.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a worker-driven human rights organization, created the Fair Food Program to certify standards that protect farmworkers who historically have faced wage theft, abuse, and modern-day slavery in the fields. Between January 2011 and October 2014, participating buyers paid US$15 million of Fair Food premiums to ensure worker protections and prevent produce from being sold at artificially low prices that depended on deplorable labor conditions. With several major victories under its belt, the CIW is now calling on Wendy’s and Publix to join the Fair Food Program and respect farmworker dignity. Take action HERE to support the campaigns and account for the social costs of agricultural commodities.

#Fightfor15 is a national campaign working for a US$15 minimum wage and a union for workers in the fast food industry. According to the campaign, two-thirds of fast food workers are supporting a family on average yearly wages of US$16,920. Moreover, 52 percent of fast food workers receive public assistance such as food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, compared to 25 percent of families in the entire workforce, according to a study by the University of California-Berkeley Labor Center. Sign NOW to support the New York’ Wage Board’s recommendation to raise the minimum wage to US$15 an hour for fast food workers.

The Food Chain Workers Alliance is calling on Walmart to comply with the corporation’s own labor and environmental standards, and to reign in externalized costs throughout its sprawling supply chains. Despite Walmart’s 2010 commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 million metric tons by 2015, the corporation was only at 38 percent of its stated goal in March, according to a recent report by the alliance. The publication details steps in the right direction and leaves a huge amount of room for improvement in both labor and environmental standards. Sign HERE to take a stand with the Food Chain Workers Alliance and tell Walmart to pay fair wages, account for environmental costs throughout supply chains, phase out antibiotics in animal production, and ensure fair prices for farmers and food producers.

A project of the FAO, Food Wastage Footprint focuses on true accounting for the financial costs of food waste. When including the environmental and social impacts of food waste, the global cost has been estimated at about US$2.6 trillion per year. Watch the video on food wastage costs HERE.

Friends of the Earth, an international grassroots environmental network, is calling on companies and policymakers to recognize the value of insect pollination to agriculture and to restrict neonicotinoid pesticides that kill bees and other insects. Ecosystem services that include insect pollination are not typically valued in the market prices of agricultural products, and one study found that their value could exceed the input costs of fertilizers and pesticides even if adopted on only 10 percent of cropland around the world. Take action HERE to call on the CEOs of True Value and Ace Hardware to stop selling neonicotinoids and recognize the true economic value of insect pollination.

La Via Campesina, an international peasant-led movement, is standing with the European Milk Board to jointly call for immediate recognition of a crisis in the European dairy sector and implementation of preventative measures. Trade liberalization in the EU has caused prices to drop below US$0.30 per liter and cost many farmers their jobs, resulting in collective actions to call for emergency quotas.

The Asia Pacific chapter of the international PAN is working to phase out Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) that harm people, farm animals, and wildlife. Globally, health costs of pesticide application are estimated to be US$1.1 billion per year. Take action HERE to call on governments and industry leaders to phase out HHPs in Asia and the Pacific and adopt ecological pest control to account for externalized health costs of pesticide use in agriculture. PAN Asia Pacific is also asserting women’s rights through its #NoLandNoLife campaign.

Oceana’s campaign to stop seafood fraud aims to educate consumers about the true availability of seafood. The nonprofit organization reports that illegal fishing causes losses of US$10-23 billion annually. And 20-32 percent of wild-caught seafood imported into the U.S. actually comes from pirate fishing that devastates marine ecosystems and costs billions of dollars. Take action NOW to help put a stop to seafood fraud.

Palm oil is associated with the deforestation of tropical rainforest in many areas of the world, but the environmental value of palm oil produced using agroforestry can be three times higher than monoculture, according to a study by Trucost, a natural capital accounting firm. UCS is calling on Burger King to adopt strong palm oil sourcing policies that prevent deforestation. Join UCS today by signing the petition HERE.

Join Food Tank in accounting for the true cost of cheap food by taking the pledge HERE! Do you know of other campaigns and organizations that are calling on food corporations to account for their true costs of production? Share them with me at Danielle@foodtank.com. And SHARE THIS LIST with your social network!

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Sarah Small is the former Chief of Staff at Food Tank. Sarah previously served as the Global Events Director & Special Assistant, Research Associate, Membership Manager, and Research and Communications Intern for Food Tank: The Food Think Tank. She helped launch an urban agriculture walking tour in Chicago, Food Tank Tours, and has been published in Christian Science Monitor, The Telegraph, Thomson Reuters, The Daily Meal, The Huffington Post, TakePart, and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs Global Food for Thought blog.

Sarah served as Founder and Event Director of Yoga Rocks the Park Chicago, a yoga and music movement sweeping 20+ U.S. cities. She served as an Associate Board Member of Growing Home, Inc., a nonprofit organization providing workforce development and organic produce on Chicago’s south side. Sarah is also a certified Health Coach with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and the Institute for Nutritional Leadership. She is the founder of a health and lifestyle brand for women with autoimmune disease, called Autoimmune Tribe. Sarah is also a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) and a graduate of the Dale Carnegie Leadership Institute where she received Breakthrough and Outstanding Performance Awards. She graduated from DePaul University with her Master’s in International Public Service with distinction. Sarah also has a Bachelor’s in Biology and Art from Kalamazoo College.